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About SILAS

The Society for Irish Latin American Studies was founded on 1 July 2003 to promote the study of relations between Ireland and Latin American countries. Our range of interest includes the settlement, lives, and achievements of Irish emigrants to Latin America and their descendents, as well as the contemporary presence of Ireland in the life and culture of Latin America and the presence of Latin Americans in Ireland.

In 1919, in his Story of the Irish in Argentina, Thomas Murray encouraged the establishment of an institution with the aim of 'collecting, preserving, and making public of the scattered, decaying, and hidden treasure of Irish-Argentine historical material that lies about in old family archives, and half forgotten official records, as well as in old pamphlets and periodicals which have not found their way into the public libraries, but still exist in out-of-the-way places' (Murray 1919: 482). He suggested the American Irish Historical Society, which was established at the close of the nineteenth century, as a model to be imitated. Better late than never! Over eighty years later a group of persons with similar research interests founded the Irish Argentine Historical Society to study the different aspects of the Irish emigration to Argentina, and the development of the Irish-Argentine community. In order to reflect our interest in other Latin American countries and regions, during the General Meeting held on 24 June 2005 in Maynooth members changed the organisation's name to Society for Irish Latin American Studies.

The first undertaking of SILAS was the development of the website Irish Migration Studies in Latin America. Other SILAS activities include research projects, publishing of studies and essays, funding of fellowships, grants and research prizes, organisation of field trips, educational programmes and conferences, and involvement in restoration and museum projects. Announcements are regularly published through the web site.

SILAS encourages diversity amongst its members (e.g., gender, age, origin, ideology, or religion), accepting and respecting cultural differences and recognising that no one culture is intrinsically superior to another. The Society is open to any discipline, to any historical period, and to any methodological approach. SILAS is a non-profit international organisation incorporated in Geneva under the Swiss laws.

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